In addition to the NYX products, I also applied a touch of Victoria’s Secret’s Beauty RushWet/Dry Shadow in Gold Rush on the center of my eyelid for an eye brightening effect as well as the darkest, almost black eyeshadow from my BH Cosmetics 88 Neutral Palette in my crease (well, technically I don’t have a crease–instead, the area of where a crease would be, almost where you can feel the eye socket) and outer corner for extra smokiness. I followed up with my Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen in Blackened Brown on my upper lash line, Styli-Style Line & Style 24 Twist Eyeliner in Black Brown on my inner rim/water line, Shiseido Nourishing Mascara Base, and Maybelline Define-a-Lash Volume Waterproof Mascara in Black on both my upper and lower lashes (after curling them first!). If you have questions on any of the other products I’m wearing with today’s close-up, feel free to leave me comment!

The final word on repurchasing NYX Eyeshadow Base in #ESB03 Skin Tone:

Just so you know, I don’t use eyeshadow primer ever because I’ve never had any problems with creasing or my eyeshadow wearing off too quickly, so my opinion may not be the best to rely on if you do have issues with creasing or lasting eye makeup issues. I am not even going to offer pros or cons on this product, instead I will just give you my observations.

This primer seemed to do the job I believe eyeshadow primers in general are meant to do. I had no problems with my eyeshadows wearing off as the day went on and the colors stayed true to how they appeared in their pans.

The flesh tone left a neutral base for your shadows which I think would be especially beneficial to those who have discolored or vein-y eyelids. NYX also has a pearl and white toned base as well.

Very budget friendly price (I think around $6)!

Yes, I will repurchase if I decide that eyeshadow primer is an essential to my makeup routine. I do recommend those of you who use eyeshadow primer on a regular basis to try the NYX eyeshadow base if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to the cult classic Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion which I know is much pricier.

Don’t tell my husband (actually he’ll eventually find out since he likes to check up on my blogging!), but I picked up a few items that I’m running low on and wanted to “research” to put onto my blog! I tell my husband as a good beauty blogger, I must stay current with all the new beauty products and trends that are coming out almost all the time. My readers deserve to have a well-informed self-proclaimed beauty expert who is up-to-date with the greatest and latest that the beauty and fashion world has to offer. Hopefully I can convince him to believe this because it’s true, for the most part–haha!

Now let’s get to the good stuff! Here’s all my loot from my most recent loot-y call:

Don’t worry, I plan on posting reviews on products as I try them out! I’m excited with everything I picked up and hopefully you are too!

Do you own anything my loot-y call list? If so, can you comment on any of the products? What’s the most you spent in one day doing a loot-y call of your own? Please share your beauty wisdom with everyone! Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

A girlfriend of mine recently wanted to know what were some of the best drugstore brand lipsticks that did not feel drying on the lips and/or get cakey after wearing for awhile. Well, I’m so glad that she asked! Out of all makeup products, I probably own more lip products than any other type of makeup. This includes lipsticks, lip glosses, lip liners, lip stains, and lip balms! I haven’t done an exact count of all my lip products, but I can approximate at least one hundred and probably more! I have a good mix of both high end ($15 and up) and budget friendly (under $10 and can typically be found at drugstores) lipsticks. In my opinion, great quality lipsticks can be found in both price groups, as well as horrible lipsticks in both. My current favorite drugstore brands of lipsticks that I think feel moisturizing on the lips and provides smooth, even coverage without getting cakey would be the following:

Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick–feels very creamy and emollient on the lips, gives semi-opaque color coverage with slight sheen, has SPF 20, almost feels like a lip balm, color has average wear time due to its moisturizing abilities, retails for around $6, this is probably my favorite one out of the ones I’m reviewing here!

Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in Dreamy #140 is a light shimmery pinky-nude.

Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in Spotlight Beige #620 is a light creamy rosy-beige nude with no shimmer.

Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in Sunset #180 is a warm rose shimmer.

Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in Precious Brown #680 is a shimmery mauve-nude.

Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick–feels very lightweight on the lips, almost as if it’s sinking in right away (this lippie is great for people who don’t like the feeling of lipstick on their lips!), since the lipstick feels so light on the lips it doesn’t provide a ton of moisture but at the same time doesn’t dry out your lips either, the semi-opaque color that’s almost matte wears very well throughout the day, retails for around $9

Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in Rosy Nude #065 is a pretty mid-toned rose with brown undertones (very similar to Bobbi Brown’s lipstick in Brown) and no shimmer.

Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Color–feels creamy on the lips (not as much as Rimmel’s lipppie), very opaque rich color with a satin-like finish, wears very well throughout the day, retails for around $6

**Sorry, I forgot to do swatches on my arm for reference. Please contact me if you would like these added!

MaybellineColor Sensational Lip Color in Warm Me Up #235 is a mauvey-rose with brown undertones and no shimmer.

MaybellineColor Sensational Lip Color in Totally Toffee #215 is a deeper mauvey-rose with brown undertones and no shimmer.

NYX Round Lipstick–feels creamy on the lips, give semi-opaque color, wears well throughout the day, retails for around $5

NYX Round Lipstick in Ceto #546 is a light shimmery pinky-nude.

NYX Round Lipstick in Frappucino #632 is a creamy rosy-nude with brown undertones and no shimmer.

Here’s another look at all of my favorite drugstore brand lipsticks:

What are some your favorite drugstore brand lipsticks? Any ones to avoid? What are your must-have qualities in any lipstick? If you don’t wear lipstick, why not? Share your thoughts!

For my basic, everyday makeup wardrobe I tend to stick to very similar colors and variations of such shades which most of the general public would not be able to tell the difference. But of course, myself being a makeup aficionado and others like me, can assure you that we possess a special ability to discern between multiple shades that might be considered by others to be the exact same color. Since I tend to wear mostly neutral taupes, grays, and browns on my eyes, pinky-peaches on my cheeks, and various versions of nude on my lips, it is quite rare for me to invest in other colors out of my comfort zone. I find the best way to purchase a variety of other colors, especially when I do not plan on wearing them often, is through makeup palettes which often times are at a value price versus paying for each individual shade. One such palette that I like to use when I am going out, feeling daring or fun, needing a pick me-up, or doing makeup for others is my Sephora Blockbuster Palette (the original 1st edition which I believe cost me $40?) which contains a wonderful variety of bright colorful shades, in addition to some of my more familiar neutrals.

As you can see this palette houses 64 eyeshadows, 8 blushes (one that is similar to a highlighting powder), 22 lip colors (some glosses, some fuller coverage lipsticks, and a couple glittery balms), and some cheap-o brushes and applicators. The variety of eyeshadow colors range from pinks, lavenders, purples, grays, pearls, creams, golds, russets, browns, taupes, greens, teals, blues, and I’m sure there’s still other color families I’m not including as well. Lip colors range from plums, mauves, roses, pinks, reds, russets, nudes, golds, corals, browns, tans, and glittery balms in silver and clear (who I have no idea would use unless they perhaps work in a Vegas show?!?!). The blushes in this palette are all very pretty and wearable; shades of pinks, peaches, corals, roses, light reds, plums, and a very pale pink highlighting powder are included. I do have to note that all of the blushes in this palette do contain shimmer, some more than others.

With all of the shades that are provided in this palette, there are an endless amount of looks that one can create. The ~$40 I paid was an absolute steal for all of the product that you are getting! The eyeshadows seem decently pigmented, but not quite as much color payoff than other makeup lines such as MAC or Shu Umera or other artistry lines. I don’t mind having less pigment in the eyeshadows because wearing the bright colors sometimes makes me feel like a clown or something, so the softness and sheerness is appreciated by me. However, the blushes are definitely more pigmented than the eyeshadows and a light dusting with my blush brush gives me beautiful color on my cheeks! The lip colors are my least favorite part of the palette because I just have too many other lip products that I like much better. Although one way that I do enjoy using the lip colors is to blend them with other shades (either from the palette or other lip products I have) and create my very own, unique lip color!

It will take me forever to use up this palette, but I do encourage other makeup enthusiasts to invest in a palette like this if you are wanting to be more creative with your looks, like to experiment, and have lots of options! Sephora has since come out with many versions of this palette, some smaller or larger in size. Many makeup lines also make palettes that are similar.

As a side note, I have recently purchased some palettes from Coastal Scents and BH Cosmetics. I’m very excited to see what all the hype is about that I’ve read on various beauty blogs and on YouTube about these two palettes, but am wondering for those of you who already own palettes from either one or both of these companies, what are the eyeshadows and blushes color payoff/pigmentation like? I’ve seen some who rave about the quality being similar to that of MAC’s and others who say they are chalky and definitely require eyeshadow primer to really show off the colors? Please share your experiences with the palettes from Coastal Scents and BH Cosmetics! I will be posting reviews of both once I receive my palettes, so stay tuned!

Do you own any makeup palettes? If so, which ones? Why do you like makeup palettes? Is there a makeup palette that you are dying to have? Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Here’s Adam and his almost empty bottle of Lacoste Essential fragrance after using it daily for almost two years now.

At any given time I have a collection of at least three to five fragrances that I rotate through and therefore, I very rarely ever finish a bottle completely before purchasing a new one to throw into the rotation. Adam, however, being the simple man that he is sticks to just one fragrance until it runs out. With that said I need your help suggesting some new fragrances for Adam to try when his Lacoste Essential is finally done. Since he’ll be wearing this fragrance everyday for about the next two years or so and since I have to live with him (of course–haha!), this needs to be an absolutely fantastic scent that he’ll enjoy and even more important, I’ll enjoy and won’t get sick of smelling 🙂

I’m no fragrance expert, but Adam’s Lacoste Essential smells really clean, crisp, and masculine in a light and fresh way similar to another popular men’s fragrance, Giorgio Armani’s Acqua di Gio, which I also thoroughly enjoy and believe is the sexiest way for a man to smell. So those of you who are thinking of recommending scents that are overly musky or woodsy or earthy in general should probably take note.

Any ideas? What fragrance does your significant other wear that simply turns you on? We’re open to all suggestions! Adam and I both appreciate your input (and especially my nose)!

For those of you needing fresh ideas on makeup looks or you’re just curious about what I’m wearing on my face, here is today’s close-up:

I’m playing on my sister, Joyce’s new Mac Book Pro and using her Photo Book application as well as a traditional digital camera to take photos of my close-up. The colors are coming out differently, but I thought it would be interesting for you to see the differences.

On my face:

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15 in a 50-50 blend of Rich Vanilla and Pure Honey all over the face as my foundation

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Birthday Suit all over the eyelid as a base

Maybelline Cool Effect CoolingShadow/Liner in On the Rocks #37 applied from the top lashline to the middle of my eyelid where my crease would be and also lined underneath on the lower lashline, smudged with my fingers on the eyelid as well for a smokier look

My youngest sister, Joyce and I decided to do a girls night in and treated ourselves to pedicures with the new nail polishes we just purchased at Ulta earlier today. I personally do not care a whole lot about my nails, which is quite shocking since I’m pretty much obsessed with almost all other things related to beauty, and therefore, I rarely spend a lot of money on purchasing high end, high quality nail polishes such as those made by Essie and OPI. Instead I usually purchase whatever brand is on sale as long as it’s under $5 or so. Joyce on the other hand really enjoys giving herself manis and pedis quite often and she swears that the pricier nail polish brands are definitely worth the money due to the smoother application and lasting color without chipping. I was curious to find out if there was any truth to what she was saying so I am going to give you our immediate feedback on the nail polishes we each used and then follow-up in a week or so with the remainder of my review.

On the left I selected the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Naked Ambition #210 ($7.99 at Ulta) and to the right Joyce selected the OPI Nail Lacquer in Feelin’ Hot-Hot-Hot! #NL B77 ($9.95 at Ulta with a bonus OPI clear topcoat and mini cosmetics bag). You might be thinking that I spent more than I normally do on nail polish, but the only reason I did so this time was that Sally Hansen claims that this nail polish replaces the need for a base coat, nail strengthener, top coat, and of course nail color all in one. Dividing the ~$8 I spent on my nail polish by the 4 products it claims to replace, the nail polish was only $2 then!

Since I do not normally wear a lot of nail color, I tend to gravitate towards really pale neutral sheer shades of pinky-beige. Not only does this type of shade work with all of my wardrobe colors, but it also does not show the oh so obvious chips that would need to be fixed right away otherwise. It’s really the perfect shade of nail polish for lazy nail people such as myself 🙂 The only downside I find with these light shades is that they tend to go on streaky due to the paleness and sheerness of the polish, as well as the ridges in my nails that I tend to overlook and not file down. Joyce went for a fun and flirty Barbie pink shade which is a bit more on the girly and feminine side than I’m used to seeing her in (she usually prefers the dark intense blackish plums–don’t worry, she’s not GOTH or anything like that).

Please excuse my disgusting, dry, vein-y, man-like feet! I would normally never subject anyone to looking at a photo of my feet, but I wanted to give you a picture of how the polish turned out on my toes. Joyce’s feet look cute though 🙂

*I thought the unique brush made it fairly easy to apply the polish onto my toenails, but Joyce mentioned the flat and wide brush was difficult to maneuver around the rounded edges of her fingernails

The Lowdown on the OPI Nail Lacquer in in Feelin’ Hot-Hot-Hot! #NL B77 is this:

*a medium-toned rosy-pink shade that leans a bit on the warmer side in the bottle, no shimmer

*one coat gave decent color, but Joyce used two full coats to get her nail color to match the bottle color

*standard brush applicator which Joyce said made the polish easy to apply on both toenails and fingernails

*Joyce raved about the smooth consistency of her OPI polish, not too thin and runny, but also not too thick which she says can turn into clumpy polish (she’s predicted my Sally Hansen polish will eventually get thicker and clumpier on me with time)

*no base coat was applied, but Joyce did use her new OPI clear topcoat she got as a bonus with her nail color

At the end of the week I will be following up on the staying power of both nail polishes and hopefully have an answer to whether or not high end nail polishes can live up to their high costs.

What do you think about high end nail polishes/products versus more budget friendly nail polishes/products? Do you have any favorite nail polishes to suggest? Has anyone found the perfect pale pinky-beige nail polish that never goes on streaky and doesn’t take a ton of coats to get true color? Share your thoughts!

I have had my eyes on these beautiful shoes for a couple of years now since I first saw Jennifer Aniston wearing them in an US magazine. She was wearing them with khaki shorts, a basic white tank top and these Stuart Weitzman “Alex” wedges–I thought she looked stunning even though the description I’m sure sounds boring and dull to you. The shoes seemed to take her rather dressed down look and turned it up a notch by taking her simple outfit and “wowing” everyone with her statement wedges!

I didn’t think much else of it back then, but when I saw these shoes again this year in another celebrity magazine being worn by Jennifer Aniston (again, even after a couple of years!), Rachel McAdams, and Emmy Rossum, these Stuart Weitzman “Alex” wedges were giving me that same butterflies in my stomach feeling that I had when I first had seen them. This time around I started researching online where these shoes were available since Seattle doesn’t have a Stuart Weitzman boutique and it turned out that all the shoe websites I came across were all out of stock! So to my disappointment, I shoved the thought of these shoes into the back of my mind along with all the other “lustworthy” items I’ve been craving.

Yet, amazingly enough when my husband and I went down to Los Angeles this summer to visit his brother and wife, fate would have other plans for me. Every trip to L.A. my husband allows me to indulge in my L.A. lifestyle envy by having lunch at The Ivy (we always see someone “famous”–usually B-list actors, but who cares, they’re still famous!), shop on Robertson Boulevard (or “window shop”), and then stroll down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills to “window shop” once more, although I really have no business of even looking down there since the only items I might be able to afford are a pair of socks or something of that nature! So here I am with my husband taking a leisurely walk along Rodeo Drive “ooooohing” and “ahhhhhing” over the various articles of clothing or accessories that I have recently seen on the E! Channel and to my surprise we come to, of all things, a STUART WEITZMAN boutique! It must be fate I tell my husband and demand that we go inside. Once inside I quickly take a scan of the store and finally see the ever so breathtaking “Alex” wedges in person finally! I casually ask the sales associate if they happen to have size 6.5 in stock…in my head I was hoping yes they would have them in stock just to try them on and at the same time also hoping that they wouldn’t because I already knew I was in love with them and had to have them!

So you guessed it…they had my size! I slipped them on and paraded around the store for about fifteen minutes trying to convince myself that they just weren’t worth the ~$400 (this may not sound like a lot to some of you and indeed I do own two pairs of Cole Haan boots that cost roughly the same but were on sale for ~$200 each which was of course justifiable, BUT this is a bit outrageously overpriced for a pair of wedges), but to my sorrow–actually my husband’s sorrow–I couldn’t leave the store without them instead! Destiny and fate must have willed me into getting these shoes!

I’ve got these beautiful wedges now in my possession–what could be the problem? MAJOR BUYER’S REMORSE!! I live in Seattle, WA let me remind you; therefore, these shoes which I have decided to wear in only dry weather is now limited to roughly about 75 days a year or so. Shoes of this nature must be shown off with shorts or at least capri length pants–the climate in the Pacific NW does not always facilitate shorts attire! And again the cost, which my husband likes to remind me, is likely to be equivalent to some people’s monthly income (which I find hard to believe??).

With all things considered, can I really justify this purchase? Let me know your thoughts!

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You don't have to be ashamed of your beauty product and fashion obsessions, instead embrace it like I have and subscribe to my blog! A hundred lipsticks in various shades of the same color, a new gotta have VIX bikini in the middle of winter and you live in the Pacific NW, or the lack of self-control when it comes to skipping a visit to Sephora or Ulta when the opportunity arises--does this sound like you? If so, FABULOUS! Subscribe to this blog and satisfy your beauty and fashion cravings :-)